” In the secretive special operations community, officials are debating whether to tweak tactics for daring and risky missions involving hostage rescue and terrorist targeting that have been compromised by years of detailed news accounts and Hollywood portrayals.

Some believe Islamic extremists have gone to school on special operations forces. The classroom is the U.S. media.

Special operations forces’ three most recent attempts to rescue American hostages failed. Last year, SEALs attempted a beach insertion to capture a terrorist leader in Somalia but were spotted and repelled. There was also the horrific loss of SEALs in a helicopter shoot-down that some family members believe was an ambush.

For years, the basics for rescue and terrorist targeting have remained intact: insertion by silenced helicopter or boat to, or near, a target; and fast-roping or running to the end point. The objective is complete tactical surprise by the best commandos in the world, enhanced by goggles that let them see through the darkness.

But as one veteran of the special operations community said, “We’ve got one way of doing things, and the enemy is on to it because they’ve published these news reports and movies and all the rest of it. It’s time for some new tactics because the old ones are not working anymore.”

Retired Rear Adm. George Worthington, once the Navy’s top SEAL, was asked whether members of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have gone to school on special operations tactics.”

” As the nation’s spy agencies assess the fallout from disclosures about their surveillance programs, some government analysts and senior officials have made a startling finding: the impact of a leaked terrorist plot by Al Qaeda in August has caused more immediate damage to American counterterrorism efforts than the thousands of classified documents disclosed by Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor.

Since news reports in early August revealed that the United States intercepted messages between Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the head of Al Qaeda, and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, discussing an imminent terrorist attack, analysts have detected a sharp drop in the terrorists’ use of a major communications channel that the authorities were monitoring. Since August, senior American officials have been scrambling to find new ways to surveil the electronic messages and conversations of Al Qaeda’s leaders and operatives.

“The switches weren’t turned off, but there has been a real decrease in quality” of communications, said one United States official, who like others quoted spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence programs.”

” The trial of Bradley Manning, the US soldier who leaked a trove of state secrets to WikiLeaks, could set an ominous precedent that will chill freedom of speech and turn the internet into a danger zone, legal experts have warned.

Of the 21 counts faced by the army private on Monday, at his trial at Fort Meade in Maryland, by far the most serious is that he knowingly gave intelligence information to al-Qaida by transmitting hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the open information website WikiLeaks. The leaked disclosures were first published by the Guardian and allied international newspapers.”

” Laurence Tribe, a Harvard professor who is considered to be the foremost liberal authority on constitutional law in the US and who taught the subject to President Barack Obama, told the Guardian that the charge could set a worrying precedent. He said: “Charging any individual with the extremely grave offense of ‘aiding the enemy’ on the basis of nothing beyond the fact that the individual posted leaked information on the web and thereby ‘knowingly gave intelligence information’ to whoever could gain access to it there, does indeed seem to break dangerous new ground.” “

” A law enforcement official has told NBC News that Attorney General Eric Holder is the one who signed the search warrant for the private emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen. The warrant was signed under the guise that Rosen might be a “possible co-conspirator” in violation of the Espionage Act.”

” For awhile, it looked like the White House wanted just to control “the narrative.” But its seizure of AP phone records and surveillance of Fox employees now show its real aim: to control the news.

The Obama political team at the White House has always prided itself on its media savvy. After all, they got a candidate with an otherwise unsalable socialist past elected on a campaign that sold his personality, not his platform.

But it turns out their mastery of the press went a lot deeper than just the political arts. The latest news that the Justice Department investigated Fox News reporter James Rosen and two other newsmen in the normal course of their investigative reporting on a national security matter — coming on the heels of their seizure of Associated Press phone records — suggests an administration obsessed with controlling the news itself with a heavy hand reminiscent of totalitarian regimes.”

” Judicial Watch announced today that it has filed a reply brief with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking access to the names of the five Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) bin Laden raid operatives disclosed by the Obama Department of Defense (DOD) and the CIA to Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, the filmmakers behind the critically acclaimed and controversial film Zero Dark Thirty, which concerns the capture and killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Judicial Watch’s brief was filed as news reports emerged indicating that the Inspector General made a criminal referral to the Obama Justice Department in September 2012 regarding Undersecretary Michael Vickers, who was alleged to have improperly leaked the name of at least one operative to the filmmakers.

Documents previously uncovered by Judicial Watch reveal that the Obama administration sought to have “high visibility” into bin Laden-related projects, and granted Boal and Bigelow unusual access to agency information in preparation for their film. However, Obama administration officials also disclosed in sworn court documents related to this lawsuit that the sensitive information released to Bigelow and Boal could cause an “unnecessary security and counterintelligence risk” if released to the public. The admission seems to contradict the public statement by Obama White House spokesman Jay Carney regarding the controversy: “We do not discuss classified information,” Carney told reporters. ”

” Judicial Watch announced today that Obama administration officials disclosed in sworn court documents that sensitive information released tothe filmmakers for the upcoming film on the bin Laden raid, Zero Dark Thirty, could cause an “unnecessary security and counterintelligence risk” if released to the public. The admissions, made during the course of Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking records pertaining to cooperation between Obama administration officials and director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal in preparation for the film, raise questions about the public statement to reporters by Obama White House spokesman Jay Carney regarding the controversy: “We do not discuss classified information.” The government claims that the information shared is not necessarily classified “in isolation.”

“The government cannot have it both ways in this case,” Judicial Watch argued in a countermotion for summary judgment filed with the court on November 12, 2012. “If this information were very sensitive, it would not have been shared with the filmmakers. Since the government did share the information with the filmmakers, the court should conclude that it is necessarily not sensitive … Assisting to make a movie about government accomplishments is not a necessary or important governmental function. If it were, the term for it would be political propaganda.” ”

“Even in the face of a plea from Nancy Pelosi,President Obama insisted on subordinating the
defense needs of the United States to his reelection efforts. This is an under-reported lesson from Glenn Thrush’s new e-book, Obama’s Last Stand . According to Thrush:

“In mid-2012, the House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, requested a sit-down to ask Obama to reconsider the billions of defense cuts that would kick in automatically as part of the 2011 budget deal. The cuts included in ‘the sequester,’ she argued, would hurt Democratic House members with major defense contractors in their
districts. They were asking for an
alternative state of cuts, or any kind of plan that would keep local employers – and, by implication, local contributors – happy.”

Note that Pelosi’s concern was keeping local financial contributors happy. If she was concerned about the impact of sequestration on
our armed services and national security, she did not, according to Thrush’s account, make this
her pitch to President Obama. “

Squint, and you can see where the
Obama administration has messed up its national security leak problem to the point where Democratic Senator Dianne
Feinstein (up for re-election, by the
way) feels the need to criticize said
administration for its feckless, juvenile, and callous disregard for proper security and the need to put the country above petty partisan
advantage*. “

As John McCain said the other day ” who benefits” ? Of course the answer to that question is simple .

“Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was wrong to accuse President Obama of hypocrisy for opposing a special counsel to investigate recent national security leaks.

“Senator McCain has his way of saying things,” Feinstein told reporters. “He’s a United States senator — he can certainly say what he wants. I don’t happen to agree with that.” “

“President Obama says the White House did not “purposely” leak classified information. But the information at issue could only have originated with those closest to the president. On “ABC This Week,” you could spot one big giant loophole hanging over the president’s denial in this exchange between David Axelrod and George Stephanopoulos:”

First it was ” did not ” and now it is ” did not purposely ” . This is the kind of semantics and prevarication you get when the administration is made up of lawyers . Licensed BULLSHITTERS is all they are .

” I once had a long discussion about leaks with Richard Helms, a thoughtful gentleman who steadfastly refused to reveal state secrets even when threatened with imprisonment. Helms was director of Central Intelligence for many years, and he told me that he had often been asked to identify the source(s) of leaks of sensitive
information. “We always found the leaker(s),” he said, “but then nothing happened.” Why?
“Because most of the time the leaker was so high-ranking that there was no desire to prosecute or punish.” He said that he’d identified the likes of cabinet secretaries in some of his investigations.”

“Looks like Barack Obama’s statement on the private sector doing “fine” wasn’t the only booby trap from his press conference yesterday. Asked during the morning event about the series of leaks from his administration and their oh-so-coincidentally complimentary view of his own leadership, Obama pronounced himself offended by the insinuation that his team would leak sensitive information in an election year to save their jobs:”

The leaks start stop here

As reported here , here , here and here this administration leaks like a sieve and continually risks the lives of assets and national security to bolster it’s re-election efforts , while all retreat to an attitude of high dudgeon that anyone could suspect them of such chicanery . LOL

“President Obama takes umbrage at the idea that a spate of leaks of highly classified national-security information is somehow purposefully intended to bolster his leadership credentials. His resistance to an independent investigation will only make things worse for him. The Obama White House is leaking like a sieve. Trying to cover it up will only make the scandal bigger.

On Friday, Mr. Obama took the charges of selective leaks head-on: “The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national-security information is offensive,” he said. “It’s wrong, and people I think need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how the people around me here approach this office.” His protestations carry little credibility. On the previous day, the White House rejected a bipartisan call by leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees to appoint a special counsel to investigate the leaks.”

Like they have no idea where the leaks are coming from … Want to buy a bridge John ?

“A number of those leaks, and others in the last months about drone activities and other activities are frankly all against national security interests,” said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. “I think they’re dangerous, damaging, and whoever is doing that is not acting in the interest of the United States of America.”

Because as we all know , the Dem’s are oh so concerned with the military and the CIA

As regulars know , this is a subject we here have expounded on before here , here and here . This is absolutely shameless and it is disgraceful that there seems to be no way to make the administration pay for these crimes other than to turn them out in November .

“Security: From leaks about Osama bin Laden to those detailing cyberattacks on Iran, a disturbing pattern of publicly disclosing classified material to give Barack Obama a political boost is emerging. Under this president, our enemies don’t need spies.

The fact that the Allies in World War II had the ability to intercept and decode German and Japanese military transmissions, leading to critical military victories at Midway and elsewhere, remained a secret until long after World War II was over, and it didn’t matter who knew it. “Loose lips sink ships” was then more than a clever wartime slogan. ”

If Obama had been president during WWII the Axis would have prevailed .

” It may or may not be a coincidence that film director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal have an October 2012 release date for a movie about the killing of Osama bin Laden.

There is little doubt, however, that the Obama campaign will use it to remind voters that the perpetrator of 9/11 died on Barack Obama’s watch. Those who oppose this self-serving exploitation of the valor of our Navy SEALs can turn it against the Obama campaign with a short and simple response “Obama’s Stolen Valor.” It is in fact short enough to fit on a bumper sticker. ”

We touched on this the other day here but it seems to me that this item , like so many others involving this administration , deserves much more air time .

“National Security: New documents obtained by a watchdog group show our commander in chief gave the name of a Navy Seal Team 6 commander to the makers of a movie about Osama bin Laden. Valerie Plame, call your office.

Those documents, recently obtained by Judicial Watch, reveal that the Obama administration not only spiked the football and did an end-zone dance after the Navy SEALs dispatched bin Laden from his Club Pakistan abode, but was also willing to expose to the other side our playbook and the name of a SEAL commander.”

This whole affair is just one more example of the shameful lengths that the Obama Cartel will go to in it’s effort to move us “FORWARD” .

” “These documents, which took nine months and a federal lawsuit to disgorge from the Obama administration, show that politically connected filmmakers were given extraordinary and secret access to bin Laden raid information, including the identity of a SEAL Team 6 leader,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

“It is both ironic and hypocritical,” Fitton noted, “that the Obama administration stonewalled Judicial Watch’s pursuit of the bin Laden death photos, citing national security concerns, yet seemed willing to share intimate details regarding the raid to help Hollywood filmmakers release a movie ‘perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost’ (as described by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd) to the Obama campaign.” ”

Ask yourself , can the nation successfully endure another four years of these endless breaches

of security ? The economic damage wrought in the past 3 years is plain enough for all to see but there has been much less notice of the national security threat posed by Obama & Co.

With Hollywood and the media pulling out all the stops to save their boy , including making a campaign movie about Obama’s bin Laden hit , should we really be caught unaware by the allegation that they gave access to the producers to sensitive intelligence info ?

“I know, I know … who would have ever guessed that a blockbuster film about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and was scheduled to open just before the election might have been used for political propaganda? Well … everyone did, including Maureen Dowd last August when the film’s schedule and subject matter came to light.”

They have been a party to releasing sensitive info that might have helped our efforts to destroy Islamic terrorism at least twice that I can immediately recall . First , with the raid on bin Laden , and again just weeks ago when they endangered the life of a British undercover asset in order to claim credit for uncovering the underwear bomber plot in Yemen .

“At a briefing in July 2011, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Mike Vickers told filmmakers Michael Boal and Katherine Bigelow that the leaders of the the Special Operations Command couldn’t speak to them for appearances’ sake. However, Vickers said that the Pentagon would make available a Navy SEAL who was involved in planning the raid from its earliest stages.”

“BOMBSHELL: Al-Qaeda Infiltrator was Working for Brits not CIA, Cover Blown for Election Year Politics ”

EVERYTHING is political . Earlier today we posted about “them” , and I deliberately use the term “them” because it should be obvious to all by now that they certainly aren’t US , soiling Mother’s Day , but that is trivial compared to this .

“But as the week progressed, a developing bombshell story got buried under President Obama’s gay marriage announcement. Not only is the supposed CIA asset not a CIA asset at all, but the entire operation was exposed prematurely and the double-agent’s life was immediately threatened by an intelligence leak
that very well may have come out of the White House for political gain. ”

The sixties “me” generation ” do whatever works for you ” mantra of the left has found it’s personification in the “One ” . No matter what the cost he must be allowed to proceed .

“The leaks about the operation from the American side have infuriated British intelligence officials , who had hoped to
continue the operation. The leaks not only scuttled the mission but put the life of the asset in jeopardy . Even CIA officials, joining their MI5 and MI6 counterparts, were describing the leaks as “despicable,”
attributing them to the Obama administration. ”

We have Brian Terry and hundreds of others dead at his administration’s hands . We have who knows how many intelligence leads and efforts compromised in hasty , politically motivated announcement of bin Laden’s death and now we have the administration putting allie’s intelligence assets at risk for votes . And let’s not forget the completely unwanted publicity he gave SEAL Team 6 , who paid a horrendous price just months later .

Depicable , absolutely despicable .

Be sure and read the comments , here’s a sample :

5. Wigglesworth

“Another team scored a touchdown and Obama is trying to spike their football. Classy! “